Revelation chapter 4 this evening. We'll be looking at the entirety of the chapter and From this point moving forward through the book of Revelation. You're going to be here You're going to be hearing me say the phrase. I don't know a lot. Okay Sir, there are some things that we're going to understand that of chapter 4 and there's some things that we'll just have to understand it when we experience it or see it in chapter 4 and Chapter 4, verse 1, Revelation, excuse me, chapter 1, verse 1, 2, and 3. The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto him to show unto his servants which things must shortly come to pass." So chapters 2 and 3 must shortly come to pass. And I believe the church age, or what is known as the age of grace, is coming to a crashing halt. It's just not long. It's not long until this age is over and it'll be completed at the rapture, then seven years of tribulation, then the kingdom. So these things are coming. And he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John, who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. So verify this entire book, the revelation of Jesus Christ. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein, for the time is at hand." The time is at hand. So I want you to pay particular attention to that phrase, the time is at hand. The time is at hand, if you'll remember, for Ephesus. The time is at hand for them to repent, remember their first love and where they were fallen, right? Remember the first love, where they've been fallen, repent. The time was at hand for Smyrna, that they would fear none of those things, that they would suffer for Christ's sake, faithful unto death. The time was at hand for Pergamos to repent of following those that had the doctrine of Balaam or the doctrine of the Nicolaitans or enduring them, putting up with those things. The time was at hand they would repent and deal with those things. The time was at hand for the church of Thyatira to repent of suffering that woman Jezebel and to hold fast to living by faith. The time was at hand. The time was at hand to repent for Sardis, to repent of having a name of being alive and yet they were dead and they were not living by faith. They were existing but not living by faith. The time was at hand for Philadelphia with all their little power to keep the word of God, don't take his name in vain, and to keep the word of his patience through afflictions, reproaches, persecutions, desertions, humiliations, and temptations. And in all, trust God and to do what he says. The time was at hand for Laodicea to quit thinking that they're all that, and to buy gold, try it in fire, have white raiment being clothed in the righteousness of God, and have Isaab that they may see their true condition. The time was at hand. And last week we did a review of all seven churches, and we may have looked at it. I trust that you did fill out that piece of paper or at least take a look at it closer and see a few things that at each station, the encouragements, the exhortations that those churches had, how that they were applying to our lives. Why would we do that? Because the time is at hand. The time is at hand. Don't wait until next week to address those items that were addressed, for the time is at hand. We're going to step away from John's writings just for a moment. Book of Hebrews, chapter 10, verse 24. Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works. We know that. We know that. We also know that it says in verse 25, not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of Psalm is. We know that. Don't we? We know that. We also know that it says clearly there, but exhorting one another, encouraging, pushing, provoking, stirring up one another. But that last phrase, So much the more as you see the day approaching the time is at hand You may never have another day like today Where it may be so open and easy to be a child of God Everything that you know in your life as it did in the days of Darius when he read the writing on the wall the handwriting on the wall it might come to a crashing halt and I encourage you to look at those things, please do. After this, look at this, chapter 4, verse 1. After this, I looked up. And behold, a door was opened in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was, as it were, a trumpet talking with me, which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter. Chapter 1. Chapter 1, verse 19, write the things which thou hast seen, chapter 1, and the things which are chapters 2 and 3, and the things which shall be hereafter. So this book, if you remember the introduction to the book of Revelation, it's in three parts. John's day, chapter 1, the churches, chapter 2 and 3, and then the hereafter, chapters 4 on. So after this, after John had received instructions to the churches, after this, it looks as though that is the clear picture of the rapture. If you were to look at 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4, It looks like a clear representation of the rapture, that the heavens open up, there's a voice come up hither, the voice of a trumpet, and he's called up. From chapter 4, verse 1 on, there's no more mention of what we see as a church or the Lord's assembly until you look at chapter 19 when you read about a bride. So we're going to be reading about some things either from the heavenly perspective, or we'll be reading things about what happened during the tribulation period. And I'll be honest with you, these things, a lot of them are just too fine for me. I don't know exactly what they mean, but I can't wait to find out. Amazing, amazing things. But the after this is an idea that I want us to look at just for a minute. After this, after what? After all work is over. After those churches had their encouragements, he that overcometh, I will bless with this and this and this. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit sayeth to the churches. Well, after that, that time's over, right? So obviously, if I die, then there's no more for me to do as a living person. But if I'm raptured, which is also being gathered out, there's also no more for me to do as a person. What the after this should tell us then is it should speak of our finality. It should speak of just limited space that we have called our lives to do those things that are pleasing unto the Lord and do those things in such a way that bring him glory and honor. Chapter four. verses 10 and 11. The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne and worship him that liveth forever and ever and cast their crowns, cast their crowns before the throne saying thou worthy O Lord to receive glory and honor and power for thou has created all things and for that pleasure they are and were created. So in this life, we know that in the future, that after this, the people of God will forever shout, thou art worthy. Do I shout with my life, thou art worthy. As we get into what we're gonna see, the crown series, that's a question that's gonna come up regularly, is, is he worthy? Is he worthy? So when all work is over, after this, when all work is over, When the end of all things, Peter said in 1 Peter chapter 4, the end of all things is at hand, when the end of all things is past, after this, when the Lord Jesus Christ, when the night comes, when man will do no more work, John chapter 9 verse 4, when all that's over and all work is done, that's what we're talking about. It's a beautiful saying. On one hand, it's wonderful that the war is going to come to an end, right? In 2 Timothy 2, you know, life is hard. There's a lot of struggle we have, okay? And the Bible is consistent with that idea. There's tension between the things of God and the things of this world. In 2 Timothy 2, verse 1, Therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also." Speaking of church perpetuity. Thou therefore endure hardness. There's hardness in this life. Revelation chapter 4 verse 1 speaks of after this, after the hardness is over. Well, there's hardness now. There's not a thing going to be hard for a child of God once we're in the presence of Jesus Christ. Thank God for that. There's hardness now. And there's times where we can think to ourselves that we want to be rid of this hardness, right? But God Almighty has purposed to his people be in this hardness. Why? a good soldier of Jesus Christ. You know what? He doesn't have a volunteer army. Every last one of us is drafted. He drafts us into the hardness of this warfare. No man that woreth entangled himself in the affairs of this life that he may please him who hath chosen him, drafted him to be a soldier. So yes, there is hardness. And every soldier dreams of peace, or almost, I suppose, every soldier dreams of peace. But we're in this war right now. Thank God there's a time that's coming after this comes, but we're in this time, this present world. We're looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. It's difficult to be a contrast, though, in this present world. It's hard. It's difficult to war within ourselves as Paul said in Romans chapter 7, what I want to do I don't do and what I don't want to do that's the thing I do. It's difficult. It's comforting to dwell on deliverance. And Paul to the church of Thessalonica chapter 4, he tells them of the coming of the Lord and the rapture and he says comfort yourselves with these words, right? It's comforting to think of the war being over, the hardness being over. It's wonderful to think. about this. On the other hand, we just have just a little while to serve the Lord. We have just a little while in this life to serve the Lord. Hebrews chapter 11. I want you to read a few passages with me. We should see the pressing issue of the now. The time is at hand. Now. I don't care what's going on in the world. Now the time is at hand. This is written for the servants of God. Now. Hebrews 11, verse 13. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on earth. That describes those that he had mentioned in the previous 12 verses. But that also is a prototype for believers today that we're strangers in this world. We're in the world, but not of the world. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. Yes, I do. And they did. And surely if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have opportunity to have returned. Think of Lot's wife. But now they desire a better country that isn't heavenly. Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city." So yes, while they longed for that country, whose builder and maker is God, you know what they did, every last one of them? They lived by faith. Today, they live by faith. They live by faith. We just have a little while to traverse this world and sojourn in it, as they say. Just a little while to be a living sacrifice, Romans chapter 12, verses one and two. Just a little while to lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us and run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Just a little while. And you know that just a little while we have tick, tick, tick, time, time, time. Just a little while, you know what? This world is so good at inserting little distractions and little whatnots and little whatevers to fill our day and hypnotize our minds and our hearts so that the space of our lives that we have is occupied by foolishness. Think about what we just read just a few minutes ago out of 2 Timothy. It's getting entangled with the affairs of this life. The time is at hand. The time is at hand. Just a little while to live wide open for the Lord. Just a little while. Just a little while. I mentioned it Sunday. It's something I've been thinking about. In Joshua chapter 10, the army was on the run, but the day was growing long. And Joshua prayed unto the Lord, Lord, hold the sun still. And it happened. It never happened before. Nothing, anything like it. But the essence of what Joshua was praying, you think, hey, he could have prayed for some kind of disaster from the Lord and just shut down the enemy. But he prayed to God that he would have more space to serve and war on behalf of God Almighty. For God's glory, just a little while. Now, we're not going to lengthen the days before the tribulation, and I'm not saying that you can pray, God, that Jesus would wait a little longer. There's a song. You ever heard that song before? Wait a little longer, sweet Jesus. And it's horrible. It's blasphemous. The chorus says, a few more days to get my loved ones in, like there's something that we could do about that. It's a horrible song. But the idea of having space and efficiently and desirously using the time and space that God has given us because guess what? After this is coming ever so rapidly. It would shock us how close eternity is. It would shock us. We read about that man in Luke who had so much stuff, and he said, you know what, I'm going to yank down my barns and build bigger ones. And the Lord said what? Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Many times I've played the part of a fool and just lived my life like I had so many decades left to go when the time is at hand. The time is at hand. He says in verse four again, come up hither and I will show thee things which must be hereafter. And what a sight, what a sight he saw. Now, before we dig in to some of the things that he saw, to the Jewish reader, Revelation chapter four has a strong parallel with Ezekiel chapter one. The beast that we're going to read about that had the face of an ox and of a lamb and of a man and an eagle, it's the same description of the beast in Ezekiel chapter 1. And if you read Ezekiel chapter 1, you would be reminded that these beasts, they had wheels and they went this way and they went that way, and there's the cardinal directions, north, south, east, and west. And if you were to go also to Numbers chapter 2, you would read how that so many of the tribes were to position on the east, and they had their flag, and so many tribes on the south, and so on, and each had their flag. And you might think, start trying to connect what these images have to do with these tribes, and how symbolically, whatever, and what they all mean. It's tempting to do that. But I would want you, before we do that, I want you to go to Ezekiel and we'll learn from Ezekiel before we understand what's happening in Revelation chapter four. Ezekiel chapter one, please. Ezekiel chapter one. Begin reading with me, please, in verse five. Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance. They had the likeness of a man, and every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. And their feet were straight feet, and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot, and they sparkled like the color of a burnished brass. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides, and they had their faces and their wings, and their wings. The wings were joined one to another, they turned not when they went, they went everyone straight forward. As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the faces of a man, and the face of a lion on the right side, and they had for the face of an ox on the left side, they also had the face of an eagle. Thus their faces and their wings were stretched upward, Two wings of every one were joined one to another and covered their bodies. And they went, every one, straight forward. Whether the spirit was to go, they went, and they turned not when they went." And that sounds very confusing, doesn't it? But you get the faces, you get the idea. What I would like for you to see, what I would care for you to see, that way we could see it plainly in Revelation chapter four. As mysterious as those beasts are, verse 25, And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, something superior to them, something noteworthy, when they stood and let down their wings. And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne as the appearance of a sapphire stone. And upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness of the appearance of a man above it. And I saw as the color of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, even from the appearance of his loins even downward. And I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and I had brightness round about it. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so is the appearance of the brightness round about it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, not the beast, not the wheels, not the whatever, when I saw it, the throne, I fell upon my face and I heard a voice of one that spake. So when we read Revelation chapter four, we're reading, yes, after this, after all work is done and there's going to be some beasts, but what we need to see is God on his throne. He is the focal point, and as we read chapter 4, verses 10 and 11, we already know that God Almighty is the focal point. So now let's read Revelation chapter 4, verses 2 through 9, and compare it to what we just read in Ezekiel chapter 1. And immediately I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone. And there was a rainbow round about the throne, and sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats, and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders, sitting, clothed with white raiment, and they had on their heads crowns of gold." So, as we read this, what do people have the tendency to do? to take their eyes off of the throne and try to figure out who the 24 elders are and what the beast are and what's here and what's there and what's this and what's that. My best guess about the 24 elders, it goes to Revelation and chapter 21 where it speaks of New Jerusalem, that the walls have the names of Israel, the tribes of Israel and the foundations have the names of the 12 apostles. That's my best guess. But I wouldn't fight about it. The important thing in Revelation chapter 4 is the throne of God, God himself. That's the focal point, okay? So round about the throne, crowns. So when we say the crown series, the focus isn't the crowns. The focus is thou art worthy, O Lord, you see. So even getting that straight. Verse 5, and out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne. Seven lamps. What's that mean? I can guess. I don't know. which are the seven spirits of God. Again, I've said that I firmly believe in Isaiah, in chapter 14, that the spirits of God, wisdom, knowledge, understanding, might, counsel, and the fear of the Lord, I firmly, I strongly believe that. But again, some of these things are still speculation. I can't die on that. But I know God's on his throne. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal. And in the midst of the throne and round about the throne were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. The first beast was like a lion, the second beast like a calf, the third beast like the face of a man, the fourth beast like a flying eagle. People get into what the symbolism of that stuff might be. Again, speculation. Don't know. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within, and they rest not day and night, saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come. So what's the focal point of the beasts? They cry, holy unto the Lord, right? They give him credit for being who he is, Lord God Almighty. There is shamefacedness in these beasts before God who is above them. They are ashamed in his presence. They are humbled in his presence. They rest not. They give full diligence and behavior to worshiping and adoring God. And when these beasts give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth forever and ever, the 420 elders, whoever they may be, 12 tribes, 12 apostles, whoever they may be. I personally like the good guess of the 12 tribes and the 12 apostles, Old Testament, New Testament, but it could be 24 people that are not any of those, you see. But what is their emphasis? Is their emphasis to sit around the throne talking about who's the baddest and the greatest among them? No. The 420 elders fall down before Him. They humble themselves. They're low before Him. They're ashamed before Him. They're prostrate before Him that sat on the throne. And worship Him that liveth forever and ever. And cast their crowns before the throne, saying. So it does say that it's their crowns. We do pick up on that. But it's theirs turned over to Him. Right? It's theirs because He gave it to them. And they turn it over to Him. And their behavior in that turning over to Him, that casting before Him, is to proclaim, Thou art worthy. You see, just pausing here momentarily, the contradiction that must be to an Armenian religion. Because if God were worthy, and Jesus died for all, then His worthiness would necessitate that all would be on that scene and all would cast crowns before Him and none would be in judgment. If Christ was a worthy sacrifice, if He was a fit sacrifice to save all, then He would save all. He is a fit sacrifice to save His people from their sins. So those that He saves, represented by these 24, I don't think it's only going to be 24. I think these are representative of the people of God throughout the ages. O Lord, to receive, and that's why I personally like the 12 tribes and the apostles idea, because that represents of all ages, those under promise in the Old Testament, those under the finished work of Christ in the new, all pointing to Messiah. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, For thou hast created all things, and for that pleasure they are and were created." Again, the throne, that's the focal point of chapter 4. If you stress anything else in chapter 4, you've missed it. God Almighty. Now, when you see it play out comparing to chapter 5, who comes and takes the book out of He that sat on the throne? Christ did, right? So then by deduction, he who sat on the throne must be the father. Because when he said to the church of Laodicea, you can sit in my throne, chapter 3 and verse 2 and 1. To him that overcometh, I will grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and I'm sat down with my father in his throne. So the father's throne is depicted, it appears, in chapter 4. Christ comes to the father and takes the book with the seals and everything in chapter 5 it appears But that's it's the throne of God So in the Trinity you have God all three persons are God They're three different persons and and yet they're one you're saying so God is emphasized in chapter in chapter 4 And those that are adoring God Almighty are doing so at the depression or the humility of themselves, and they're falling before Him. People get tripped up on the even in the cries, you know, the voices that they heard from the throne and these faces and all these things, what they must mean. Focus on God, Ezekiel chapter one, focus on the Lord and what's happening here. So if we focus on the Lord and what's happening here and realize that this is all happening in the after this, as we move into the crown series, It'll cause us to understand better, well, if He's worthy of worship after this, He's surely worthy of worship now. Because those crowns, and this might sound strange, those crowns are things that God gives His people grace to earn. You can't earn salvation But these things are rewards that God grants unto his people for faithfulness, faithfulness. Chapter four and verse 10, as we read, they fall down and they cast their crowns before the throne saying, that means after this, there's no more earning. They can't go out and quote, earn more crowns. They can't go out and do more for the Lord. That time has passed. These crowns are being cast at the feet of God, and they're to the eternal glory of God, not the eternal glory of the four and 20 elders, the eternal glory of God. But these crowns are, quote, earned before the after this, okay? So I'm gonna give you just a brief rundown of what those crowns are, but we're gonna do an entire series on those crowns with a focus not on the crown, but that he is worthy of crown earning behavior. Think about that. So not the emphasis on the crown, but emphasis on crown earning behavior. So 1 Peter chapter five is the crown of glory. And the crown of glory is given to the faithful pastor, okay? So whenever I, when I preach it a few weeks on the crown of glory, I'm looking in a mirror the whole time, okay? And I'm giving you, I'm gonna be giving a message of things you should expect from me, but it's a message toward a pastor, toward an elder. So it's not just so that I would be a good pastor and have a name in a community, but for the glory of the Lord. And because he is worthy, a pastor should desire to achieve the crown of glory for Christ's sake, for God's glory. And you should desire that crown for me, for God's glory, you see, not for my glory or not for my benefit, for God's glory, you see, because he's worthy. He's worthy to receive glory and honor and power. In 2 Timothy chapter 4, there's the crown of righteousness, the crown of righteousness. It's given to those who are blessed by God with grace to live by faith, not simply to hold doctrine, but to live by faith. In James chapter 1 and Revelation chapter 2, there's the crown of life that is spoken of. Thou art worthy, O Lord, for the children of God to be faithful unto death. Sometimes we're not even faithful unto mild persecution and mocking or whatever, but faithful unto death. 1 Corinthians chapter 9, the incorruptible crown, the crown of self-control, striving in self-control, the incorruptible crown. Thou art worthy, O Lord, that I would not be tripped up in any little hazard and be thrown off course by my passions and lusts or whatever. Thou art worthy. 1 Thessalonians 2, the crown of rejoicing, the soul winner's crown. Lord, thou art worthy that I would go proclaim your name in your gospel, the Lord Jesus Christ, and that knowing, Lord, that you save your people from their sins, But I desire to see souls saved, and I know that comes by the preaching of the word of God. For the glory of the Lord then. There may be more, but those are at least five crowns that are notable in the New Testament. So these crowns that are cast before the throne, again, these crowns are not written in the New Testament that one after they die could be could be your work tour, but these are things that people in our lives right now, and if you look at it in the passage in Revelation chapter 4, it's not just the New Testament, right? Not just the New Testament elders that have crowns. So we can't say that only New Testament people have crowns, nor can we say only church members have crowns. Can't say that. Can't say that at all. And there have been people that have testified a false gospel and someone be saved under that ministry. I don't believe the Lord gives somebody a crown of rejoicing that they could have in judgment. You see, there's no crowns for those who are of unbelief, even though they may live an upright or ethical life or whatever. Now these crowns, now specifically the faithful pastor crown, there were no pastors, obviously, before there were churches. So that's a New Testament crown. And crown of rejoicing, people in the Old Testament, they shared the gospel, same as the New, didn't they? Sure they did. Their understanding was different, but they shared the gospel. There was living incorruptible crown, self-control. There was Job. It appears by scripture that he would be a solid candidate for an incorruptible crown. Faithful unto death. You can see people through the Old Testament. They were faithful unto death, living by faith and so on. So again, these things, these items are for the glory of the Lord. Thou art worthy. So if he's worthy to receive glory and honor and power and recognition, he's worthy to be submitted unto and worshiped and adored by these fantastic beasts and these elders that are representative of believers at large. If he's worthy of it after this, he's certainly worthy of it now, right before. After this, the eternal worship of God So then they asked the question, do I want to worship God at the day that we're called up on the scene of this day when there's no more work to do and adoration goes on to the Lord? Do I want as few crowns as possible for the glory of the Lord because he's worthy? Or what I desire for you is many crowns for the glory of the Lord for he is worth. When you hear me preach so often to trust the Lord and to do what He says, it's, yes, for your benefit, but because He's worthy. He's worthy. Casting crowns will be part of time to come, but for the glory of the Lord, working for those things, earning, quote, earning those crowns for the glory of the Lord, that's to be done by the people of God now, by the children of God, Now, we're going to do an introduction to the crown series next time, and then go through the crowns one by one, and then do a summary. And I believe the Lord will bless. We've gone over it about a year and a half ago, maybe two years ago, but we'll do it again. The time was at hand two years ago. I know the time is at hand now. So children of God, we should trust the Lord. We should. We should look forward to that day, that day when we cast crowns. I'll give you a snapshot from a few months from now. The conclusion of the crown series, the title of that message is Tears in Heaven. Tears in Heaven. You've heard that song, There'll Be No Tears in Heaven, right? Well, it says in the Bible that He'll wipe away all tears. Why do you suppose that he'll have to wipe them away? Well, I'm convinced that at that beam of seat, that judgment seat, when I see all the wood, hay and stubble that's burned up and I see him for who he is and how worthy he really is. And after being examined for all the sin that I've had in my life, and the waste in my life, and every idle word that'll be judged, and all these things, and every opportunity that I did not take to serve the Lord as I ought, and the examination of my life before God Almighty, when I see all the time where in my life I proclaim, Lord, you're not worthy for me to get up today. No, you're not worthy for that. then there'll be a measure of shame in His presence. I thank God He'll wipe away all tears. I thank God that my salvation and security is not up to me, and because I would have lost it far quicker than I could have ever gained it, but you can't gain it. You understand what I'm saying there? There's coming a time when every one of us, as we've been examined by God, and we'll read that in 1 Corinthians, When we've been examined by God and we see how worthy He is, that we will fall to our faces. Thank God He's merciful. Thank God He'll wipe those things away and all the formal things will be removed. It ought to be our desire with that in mind, though, before we even start the series, with that in mind, it ought to be our desire that for His glory, we live for Him, that we live for Him. Earning crowns and hearing the descriptions, it just seems like it would be common sense, right? Doesn't it just sound like it would be common sense that to proclaim the worthiness of God, that I would be a faithful pastor, that I would proclaim the gospel, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ on a regular basis, and that I would tell His people, hey, trust Him, do what He says, follow Him, trust Him, do what He says, love Him, trust Him, listen to Him, here is His word, do what He says. That just makes sense. It makes sense that the people of God would live it. It makes sense that the people of God would live it unto death. It makes sense that the people of God would live it and that all appearance of evil would stick away from it. It makes sense. We'd want to share it with somebody. Testifying unto others what great things the Lord had done for us. It just makes sense. He is worthy of such behavior. We should hear instruction and live by it. And I say we, not you, we. Myself included. I should hear instruction and live by it. Chapter 1 and verse 3. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy. Well, if a preacher can preach and not hear the sound of his own voice, shame on that man. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein, for the time is at hand. Time is at hand. If we learn those encouragements from the churches in chapters two and three, it'll be an easy application in chapter four as we go through. And as we look at these crowns and potential crowns to be cast at the feet of God Almighty, our focus should be on Him, right? Because if our focus is on ourselves, then we can start wedge and make excuses and whatever. But if our focus is on Him, if my focus is on God Almighty and my preaching, then pastoring becomes super easy. If my focus is on God Almighty and our living, then living becomes, I don't want to say easy, but straightforward. If I'm trying to decide if I should share the gospel with somebody, the more I have my eyes on Jesus Christ and the glory and worthiness of God, well, that takes the guesswork out of whether the gospel needs to come out of my mouth. Sinner, after this, all those that don't know the Lord will be cast alive in the lake of fire. We've read that so many times, chapter 20. It's gonna come. He wrote it as a history. He wrote it as a history. It's coming. Let me say this. If these crowns, if the items of these crowns Now you might not be a pastor, but if you don't like to hear preaching, and not just me, but anybody, if you don't like to hear preaching, if you don't like to hear, if you don't like exposure to the word of God from a faithful pastor, that's a problem. If you don't like the idea of living by self-control or under self-control guided by the Holy Spirit or the declaration of the gospel or holy living, upright living before God, if these things are not appetizing to you, they don't sound like fun, it's because you don't have a desire to worship God. People can talk about the Bible all they want. But if these items, the crown's items, are not pleasing to them, that's what worship looks like in the hereafter. Worship comes at these crowns, and the crowns are outlined in the New Testament. If crown-thou-worthy behavior is not exciting to a person, better make calling an election sure. That's what worship looks like. People have a question on what worship looks like. Well, it's not waving the hands around and exciting music and long invitations. This is what worship of God looks like. Submission, obeisance, prostrateness before God. Thou art worthy. They say thou art worthy. Look at that. They say thou art worthy. Verses 10 and 11, they cast the crown before the throne saying, thou art worthy. Their mouth said it, but those crowns do a lot of talking to. Those crowns are behaviors. That's the living of the people of God. A lot of mouths say a lot of things, but what's behavior look like? If earning crowns, again, doesn't sound appetizing, if it doesn't sound like fun, I encourage you to repent, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It ought to be a wonderful experience for a child of God to tell somebody else what the Lord did for them. It ought to be a wonderful experience, a wonderful experience for a child of God to simply live for the Lord. When I say wonderful, it's a warfare, and it's hard. We read that. It's hard. Sinner, again. The after this is coming. The after this is coming. In Revelation chapter 22, the Lord Jesus Christ died in the place of sinners, literally as a substitute. Every single person deserves to die and burn in judgment. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became flesh. God the Son, deity, everlasting, became flesh. He became a person. That's not worded properly. He always was. But he took upon himself humanity. He took upon himself skin and tissue and cells, blood flow. In his body, he bore the sins of his people. Those that call upon the name of the Lord for salvation, those that see the distress and anguish of soul, that of themselves they cannot and will not be saved, that they need a savior, all that call upon him shall be saved. Revelation 22 and verse 17 says, and the spirit and the bride say, come, come to Christ, come to him, turn from self, turn to him. Let him that heareth say, come. And the hymn that is a thirst, that is that one made thirsty by the spirit of God, That thirst that cannot be quenched by any other than that living water of Jesus Christ, John chapter 4. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. But who's going to take that water? Those that are made thirsty by God. I would encourage you then, by the power of God, that there is no hope outside of Christ. That there's either two stations in eternity, those that fall before God Almighty, and worship Him throughout eternity in the splendor of His presence because of what Jesus did? Are those that fall before His presence directly before they are told, depart from me, I never knew you, and are cast alive in the lake of fire? Repent, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. May the Lord bless the preaching of His word. Little Lex, please come lead us in song.